Saturday, October 1, 2016

THIS, THIS IS MINE

This, This Is Mine

Written and
directed by Duncan Ragg. The Corinthian Foodstore Collective. A private house in
O’Connor. September 30 and October 1 2016.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

I am invariably excited by the
initiative of young actors to forge their way into the acting industry by
collaborating and creating original, uniquely created and dynamically energetic
and expressive ideas that reflect their place in a complex and changing world.
Graduates of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Charles Wu and Duncan Ragg
have done just that, and have gathered together other exciting professional
performer on the cusp of their theatre careers to create original work, and
find new ways of exploring issues that concern them in locations that defy
expectation and convention.

This, this is Mine is such an original and personal insight into
the lives of two friends, struggling to come to terms with their identity,
their complex relationship and their beliefs and attitudes, informed by
cultural and ethnic differences. It is a tale of the tribe, preoccupied with
their concerns, incapable of the ability or desire to listen, and irrevocably
drawn into a web of conflict.

Matilda Ridgway as Eva in This,This Is Mine.

Writer, Duncan Ragg’s play opens with a sense of portent. Set in the actual
living room and kitchen of a house in Canberra’s inner North, the play opens
during a power blackout. Eva (Matilda Ridgway) has returned from her father’s
wake and is sorting through boxes of possessions. Outside the rain pours
ceaselessly, when suddenly Lester ( Shiv Palekar) bursts through an open
window, tearing a poster . It is a sudden, unexpected and ominous entry,
creating an atmosphere of suspense and potential threat, which eases with the
knowledge that Eva and Lester are old schooldays friends and they have met at
Eva’s father’s house to wait for a third friend, Ark.

Matilda Ridgway as Eva and Shiv Palekar as Lester

What ensues in the shadows of the
room is a spontaneous combustion of private emotions, conflicting attitudes and
a persistence to express independent thought and motive. Eva seeks order and
control. Lester, an apparent rival for her love, in the absence of Ark, who,
like Beckett’s Godot, never appears, but defines the hidden truths of their
relationship. We watch as their relationship waxes and wanes before erupting in
irreconcilable conflict and obstinate preoccupation with self.

In the powerless dark, truth
lights up the bitter rifts that ultimately forces these friends apart in an universal
conflict between man and woman, black and white, different cultures and
opposing expectations. Ragg’s dialogue is specific, natural and revelatory, an
entirely believable depiction of two people compelled to confront their
relationship and define their own feelings, Ragg writes the chronicle of his
tribe, assumedly members of the Gen Y clan, grappling with their age, their
society and their identity and place within that society. Played out in the
confines of an actual house to a small audience, seated on couches and chairs,
the unfolding drama is powerful, sudden, surptising and revelatory. I sit there
as a member of a generation far removed, and yet reminded of a rite of passage,
scarred with the search for self.

Shrouded in the intimacy of a room,
the performances reverberate with conviction. Ragg’s dialogue may may echo with
the inspiration of Beckett and Pinter, but Ridgway and Palekar lend every
syllable the authenticity of their personal tru8th and their powerful performance
technique. We are witness to an utterly plausible event and relationship
breakdown that reaches far beyond the four walls of Canberra living room. Ridgway, a graduate of Ensemble, Ecole Philipppe Gaulier and Atlantic. and Palekar, a 2014 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art have already proved their stripes with
companies such as Belvoir and the Sydney Theatre Company. In the intimate
space, their performances are controlled and totally engaging in their moments
of tenderness, confusion or simmering violence. This,This Is Mine, has been written for performance in an act8ual
house to a small audience, and would be less effective on a proscenium stage,
although both Ridgway and Palekar have the talent and the technique to embrace
any stage with their performance. Unfortunately, This,This Is Mine is unlikely to reach wide audiences, although it
speaks to all audiences and especially to its particular tribe. The play and
its concept are ideal for a Fringe Festival and deserve to be seen by a large
number of audiences. Adelaide’s Holden Street Theatres springs to mind as an
ideal venue during an Adelaide Fringe.

The Corinthian Food Collective,
and Artistic Directors Duncan Ragg and Charles Wu have revived the intimacy and
the power of Salon Theatre with a play that reverberates with the issues and
concerns of a young generation in search of meaning, identity and recognition.
The theatre is neither decorous, nor entirely comfortable, but it is
impressively honest and I do hope that this company will continue to challenge,
provoke and excite through their belief in theatre that is relevant,
imaginative and has something important to say.

Photo by Nick McKinlay

I leave through another room
crowded with audience who, as at the beginning before the show starts, have
gathered to drink, talk, enjoy the company of others and listen to Wu’s singing
on guitar on Canberra’s wet and dark September night. At the end, there is a
closer sense of community, a shared understanding of the power of theatre to
affect our lives and bring us all closer together. Ironically, the conflict
between Eva and Lester has become the closer bond between every member of the
audience. This is theatre that erects a signpost to the future and
deservessupport.

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About Me

The 26 year-old Canberra Critics’ Circle is the only such group of critics in Australia that runs across all the major art forms, not just performing arts.
The circle changes each year depending on who is writing or broadcasting on the arts in Canberra.
Our aim is to provide a focal point for Canberra reviewers in print and electronic media through discussions and forums. As well, we make awards to ACT region artists (defined as within 100km radius of Canberra) in the latter part of each year.
The CCC has always resisted making awards in “best-of” categories. Arts practice is not a competitive race and Canberra is a small pool where it would be ridiculous to pre-impose categories, apart from major art form genres. The idea is that we, the critics, single out qualities we have noticed -- things which have struck us as important. These could be expressed as abstracts, like impact, originality, creativity, craftsmanship and excellence.
Our year is from September 30 2016 to September 30 2017.
Convener of the Circle is Helen Musa.